Trending Now
The stars of Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters are seasoned pros when it comes to vanquishing supernatural threats, but a plate of scorching chicken wings is a different beast entirely.
In the latest installment of Hot Ones Versus, released Tuesday (Feb. 24), the film’s lead voice cast went head-to-head with the powerhouse vocalists of HUNTR/X—the singers behind the characters’ musical numbers. The competition challenged both teams to prove their Demon Hunters expertise or suffer the consequences of tongue-numbing hot sauce. The heat was turned up immediately as Rei Ami, the singing voice for Zoey, scrambled to summarize the movie’s entire plot in a frantic 30-second window.
“Our mission is to retrieve the Honmoon, a musical shield. But then [Rumi] makes the questionable choice of falling for a demon,” Ami explained through laughter before the buzzer cut her short.
After the voice actors decided the singers failed the opening challenge, EJAE—the voice behind Rumi’s songs—was forced to tackle a “death wing.” Reeling from the spice, she admitted, “I thought this was all a gimmick for the cameras. It’s definitely not!”
The competition continued with a lyric-completion round. While the voice actors successfully finished lines for “How It’s Done,” they stumbled on the Saja Boys’ track “Your Idol.” This led to Arden Cho, Ji-young Yoo, and May Hong taking their turn with the spicy wings, leaving Hong visibly flushed. The trivia round proved equally treacherous for the vocalists; Audrey Nuna and her teammates were stumped by a question regarding the specific ramyun flavors favored by their respective characters, resulting in another round of fiery bites.
The episode also featured a creative showdown involving sketches of the film’s space tiger, Derpy, and a game of lip-reading song titles. At one point, Arden Cho (Rumi) chose the wing over the “betrayal” of naming a single track from the film’s chart-topping soundtrack she would want to retire.
“The soundtrack is too good,” Cho remarked while braving the heat. “It’s worth the pain.”
By the end of the gauntlet, the actors and vocalists were perfectly balanced in their knowledge and endurance, ending the match in a draw. This playful appearance follows a massive wave of success for the production, which recently secured two Academy Award nominations. The film is a contender for Best Animated Feature, while the Billboard Hot 100 hit “Golden” is up for Best Original Song—a category it already dominated at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards earlier this year.
Check out the full battle of wits and heat in the Hot Ones Versus episode above.
